Assisting employers and managers with the fitness to practise process

Assisting employers and managers with the fitness to practise process

As part of our on-going commitment to working with employers we have revised our brochure Information for employers and managers: The fitness to practise process.

The revised brochure focuses on providing information which is directly relevant to employers and is explicit on areas such as when to refer a fitness to practise concern and the time scales involved. It also includes a flowchart of the fitness to practise process and new sections on local resolution, the standard of acceptance and what happens if previous concerns are raised about an employee.

We have also revised our employer referral form. This form is to be used by employers when notifying us of a fitness to practise concern about an employee who is a HCPC registrant.

The form supports employers in making referrals to us but also ensures employers provide us with the information we need to help us deal with the referral as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Work has also been completed on updating the fitness to practise section of the website. This includes a flowchart that explains each stage of the process.

In addition to this, two new sections have been added, case studies and links. The case studies section provides examples that are based on real life fitness to practise concerns that we have received. They illustrate the type of issues that are taken into consideration by a panel when deciding if a registrant’s fitness to practise is impaired and if so, which sanction is appropriate.

The links section provides useful information for registrants and members of the public and provides links to organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureau, Healthwatch and NHS Complaints Advocacy.